Mega-merger holds no fears

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There will be a big bruiser on the block shortly. The literary community is watching with trepidation as two of the country’s top three publishers prepare to merge. Random House’s imminent tie-up with Penguin has triggered nerves among writers who worry that an empire with a 25 per cent market share and £2.5 billion of sales could take a dim view of missed deadlines and creative angst.

However, Faber and Faber, a medium-sized highbrow publisher with names such as Carol Ann Duffy and Barbara Kingsolver on its books, is curiously relaxed about the mega-merger.